This week I received my first MRI since I started my monthly Temodar cycles. The hope is that the tumor will, at the very least, remain unchanged with each new image. At the very most it will be pounded down into nothingness, never to be seen again. So...what were the results?!?
Well, Round 1 was a draw. However, since I am the current heavyweight champion of my brain, and we all know that "...in the event of a split decision, the victory goes to...", well, you get the point. Of course, in Round 2 I might want to change over to being Rocky....
Wanna know what the MRI's look like? I thought you might.
This is the original MRI before I had surgery. Now look carefully. Can you see the tumor?
This is approximately the same image taken in my most recent MRI. It shows how nicely the tumor spot has filled back in with actual brain material. Or gumballs. Either way, I'll take it.
This is an MRI from October, right before I started my first cycle of chemo. In the red circle you can see a few white spots and a bit of discolored area. The circle is red because those things are evil.
This is an MRI image from my most recent series, also highlighting that same area. Essentially there is almost no difference between the two images, which is considered very good news. Even better news would be if those spots completely disappeared, but I'm trying to teach myself not to count on that. The sizes and positions of the spots might appear slightly different between MRI images, but mainly that's because the cross-sections are about 5 mm apart, so sets of images taken two months apart will never perfectly align.
In the meantime, I'm starting my next cycle tonight, and will be meeting with my 2nd opinion doctor on Monday.
Ding ding....
